BECAUSE there were fewer facts asserted in his second amended complaint against PC Bargain, District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona has again dismissed the lawsuit of Zaji Zajradhara.
In a 17-page order, Judge Manglona said Zajradhara was informed that he was required to “restate all necessary factual allegations, all claims against every defendant he intends to sue, and all remedies he seeks in the Second Amended Complaint if he chooses to file one.”
Here, again, Zajradhara claims racial discrimination because he was “denied an employment opportunity,” Judge Manglona noted.
“As the Court iterated previously, while Zajradhara does belong to a racial minority, and thus a protected class thereby meeting the first element of racial discrimination under §1981, there is nothing in his second amended complaint to suggest that he is qualified for the jobs applied to or that another individual who was in fact hired was not qualified,” the judge said.
Taking Zajradhara’s facts as true, she added, the only information the court has regarding his qualifications include conclusory statements that he has a “distinguished career in various industries” and that he was “eminently qualified,” for the job.
Although only minimal evidence is necessary, the judge said these conclusory statements are “woefully insufficient to establish the second element for a prima facie case of §1981 discrimination.”
While Zajradhara did reallege the same claims, he did so with even fewer facts, the judge added.
Nevertheless, the court gave Zajradhara another chance to correct the deficiencies identified by the order.
Judge Manglona directed Zajradhara to file a third amended complaint by April 30, 2023.
“Zajradhara is cautioned and reminded that his third amended complaint must restate all necessary factual allegations, all claims, and all remedies he seeks in the third amended complaint if he chooses to file one. If Zajradhara fails to file an amended complaint within thirty days of the date of this order, the clerk of court shall, without further notice, enter judgment dismissing this case with prejudice,” the judge said.
Zajradhara, who represented himself in the complaint, claimed discrimination based on race, national origin, religion, and color of skin in his lawsuit against PC Bargain, and demanded an undetermined amount of damages.
In September 2019, the CNMI Department of Labor-Administrative Hearing Office granted a motion for sanctions against Zajradhara over a labor complaint he filed against a restaurant for not hiring him as a waiter.
According to the hearing office, “It is an uncontroverted fact that [Zajradhara] has a history of filing many labor complaints. It has also been demonstrated that [he] has initiated a series of unmeritorious claims in various venues against [the restaurant].”
In March 2019, six House members introduced House Resolution 21-5 “to declare Zaji O. Zajradhara, formerly known as Steven Carl Farmer, a persona non-grata in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.”
According to the resolution, the Legislature is “cognizant of the malicious and ill-mannered actions of Zaji O. Zajradhara…in his filings of numerous labor claims against various businesses in the CNMI….”
